
Safety system of your vehicle
Important Safety Precautions ..............................2-2
Always Wear Your Seat Belt ..........................................2-2
Restrain All Children .........................................................2-2
Air Bag Hazards .................................................................2-2
Driver Distraction ..............................................................2-2
Control Your Speed ...........................................................2-3
Keep Your Vehicle in Safe Condition ............................2-3
Seats ........................................................................2-4
Safety Precautions ...........................................................2-5
Front Seats .........................................................................2-6
Rear Seats.........................................................................2-12
Head restraints ................................................................2-15
Heated Seats and Ventilated Seats ............................2-20
Seat Belts ..............................................................2-24
Seat Belt Safety Precautions .......................................2-24
Seat Belt Warning Light ................................................2-25
Seat Belt Restraint System...........................................2-26
Additional Seat Belt Safety Precautions ...................2-34
Care of Seat Belts...........................................................2-37
Child Restraint System (CRS) .............................2-38
Children Always in the Rear .........................................2-38
Selecting a Child Restraint System (CRS) .................2-39
Installing a Child Restraint System (CRS)..................2-41
Air Bag - Advanced Supplemental Restraint
System ...................................................................2-48
Where Are the Air Bags? ..............................................2-50
How Does the Air Bag System Operate?..................2-54
What to Expect After an Air Bag Inflates ................2-58
Occupant Classification System (OCS).......................2-59
Why Didn't My Air Bag Go Off in a Collision? ........2-65
SRS Care ............................................................................2-71
Additional Safety Precautions .....................................2-72
Air Bag Warning Labels .................................................2-73
This chapter provides you with important information about how to protect yourself and your passengers.
It explains how to properly use your seats and seat belts, and how your air bags work.
Additionally, this chapter explains how to properly restrain infants and children in your vehicle.
2

2-2
You will find many safety precautions
and recommendations throughout
this section, and throughout this man-
ual. The safety precautions in this sec-
tion are among the most important.
Always Wear Your Seat Belt
A seat belt is your best protection in
all types of accidents. Air bags are
designed to supplement seat belts,
not replace them. So even though
your vehicle is equipped with air bags,
ALWAYS make sure you and your
passengers wear your seat belts, and
wear them properly.
Restrain All Children
All children under age 13 should ride
in your vehicle properly restrained in
a rear seat, not the front seat. Infants
and small children should be
restrained in an appropriate child
restraint. Larger children should use
a booster seat with the lap/shoulder
belt until they can use the seat belt
properly without a booster seat.
Air Bag Hazards
While air bags can save lives, they
can also cause serious or fatal
injuries to occupants who sit too
close to them, or who are not prop-
erly restrained. Infants, young chil-
dren, and shorter adults are at the
greatest risk of being injured by an
inflating air bag. Follow all instruc-
tions and warnings in this manual.
Driver Distraction
Driver distraction presents a serious
and potentially deadly danger, espe-
cially for inexperienced drivers. Safety
should be the first concern when
behind the wheel and drivers need to
be aware of the wide array of potential
distractions, such as drowsiness,
reaching for objects, eating, personal
grooming, other passengers, and
using cellular phones.
Drivers can become distracted when
they take their eyes and attention off
the road or their hands off the wheel
to focus on activities other than driv-
ing. To reduce your risk of distraction
or getting into an accident:
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Safety system of your vehicle

Safety Precautions
Adjusting the seats so that you are sit-
ting in a safe, comfortable position
plays an important role in driver and
passenger safety together with the
seat belts and air bags in an accident.
Air bags
You can take steps to reduce the risk
of being injured by an inflating air
bag. Sitting too close to an air bag
greatly increases the risk of injury in
the event the air bag inflates.The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) recommends
that drivers allow at least 10 inches
(25 cm) between the center of the
steering wheel and their chest.
Seat belts
Always fasten your seat belt before
starting any trip.
At all times, passengers should sit
upright and be properly restrained.
Infants and small children must be
restrained in appropriate child
restraint systems. Adults and chil-
dren who have outgrown a booster
seat must be restrained using the
seat belts. Do not use a cushion that
reduces friction between the seat
and the passenger. The passen-
ger’s hips may slide under the
lap portion of the seat belt during
an accident or a sudden stop.
Serious or fatal internal injuries
could result because the seat
belt cannot operate properly.WARNING To reduce the risk of serious
injury or death from an inflating
air bag, take the following pre-
cautions:
Adjust the driver's seat as far
to the rear as possible while
maintaining the ability to
maintain full control of the
vehicle.
Adjust the front passenger
seat as far to the rear as pos-
sible.
Hold the steering wheel by the
rim with hands at the 9 o'clock
and 3 o'clock positions to
minimize the risk of injuries to
your hands and arms.
NEVER place anything or any-
one between the steering
wheel and the air bag.
Do not allow the front passen-
ger to place feet or legs on the
dashboard to minimize the
risk of leg injuries.
WARNING
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Safety system of your vehicle
2

2-10
Safety system of your vehicle
Seatback angle
To adjust the seatback:
1. Rotate the top of control switch
forward or rearward.
2. Release the switch once the seat-
back reaches the desired position.Reclining seatback
Sitting in a reclined position when
the vehicle is in motion can be dan-
gerous. Even when buckled up, the
protections of your restraint system
(seat belts and air bags) is greatly
reduced by reclining your seatback.Seat belts must be snug against your
hips and chest to work properly.
When the seatback is reclined, the
shoulder belt cannot do its job
because it will not be snug against
your chest. Instead, it will be in front
of you. During an accident, you could
be thrown into the seat belt, causing
neck or other injuries.
The more the seatback is reclined,
the greater chance the passenger's
hips will slide under the lap belt or
the passenger’s neck will strike the
shoulder belt.
OTL035006NEVER ride with a reclined seat-
back when the vehicle is moving.
Riding with a reclined seatback
increases your chance of serious
or fatal injuries in the event of a
collision or sudden stop.
Driver and passengers should
ALWAYS sit well back in their
seats, properly belted, and with
the seatbacks upright.
WARNING

2-12
Safety system of your vehicle
Seatback pocket
The seatback pocket is provided on
the back of the front seatbacks.
Rear Seats
Folding the rear seat
The rear seatbacks can be folded to
facilitate carrying long items or to
increase the luggage capacity of the
vehicle.
To fold down the rear seatback:
1. Set the front seatback to the
upright position and if necessary,
slide the front seat forward.
2. Lower the rear head restraints to
the lowest position.
Never allow passengers to sit
on top of the folded down
seatback while the vehicle is
moving. This is not a proper
seating position and no seat
belts are available for use.
This could result in serious
injury or death in case of an
accident or sudden stop.
Objects carried on the folded
down seatback should not
extend higher than the top of
the front seatbacks. This
could allow cargo to slide for-
ward and cause injury or dam-
age during sudden stops.
WARNING
OTLE035060
OTL035017
Do not put heavy or sharp
objects in the seatback pockets.
In an accident they could come
loose from the pocket and
injure occupants.
CAUTION

2-13
Safety system of your vehicle
3. Insert the rear seat belt buckle in
the pocket between the rear seat-
back and cushion, and insert the
rear seat belt webbing in the guide
to prevent the seat belt from being
damaged.4. Fold the seatback toward the front
of the vehicle.5. To use the rear seat, lift and pull
the seatback rearward. Pull the
seatback firmly until it clicks into
place. Make sure the seatback is
locked in place.
When you return the seatback to
its upright position, always be sure
it has locked into position by push-
ing on the top of the seatback.
2
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2-24
Safety system of your vehicle
This section describes how to use the
seat belts properly. It also describes
some of the things to avoid when
using seat belts.
Seat Belt Safety Precautions
Always fasten your seat belt and
make sure all passengers have fas-
tened their seat belts before starting
any trip. Air bags are designed to
supplement the seat belt as an addi-
tional safety device, but they are not a
substitute. Most states require all
occupants of a vehicle to wear seat
belts.
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Seat belts must be used by ALL
passengers whenever the vehi-
cle is moving. Take the following
precautions when adjusting and
wearing seat belts:
ALWAYS properly restrain
children under age 13 in the
rear seats.
NEVER allow children to ride
in the front passenger seat. If
a child age 13 or older must be
seated in the front seat, move
the seat as far back as possi-
ble and properly restrain them
in the seat.
NEVER allow an infant or child
to be carried on an occupant’s
lap.
NEVER ride with the seatback
reclined when the vehicle is
moving.
Do not allow children to share
a seat or seat belt.
WARNING Do not wear the shoulder belt
under your arm or behind your
back.
Always wear both the shoul-
der portion and lap portion of
the lap/shoulder belt.
Do not use the seat belt if it is
twisted. A twisted seat belt
will not protect you properly
in an accident.
Do not use a seat belt if the
webbing or hardware is dam-
aged.
Do not latch the seat belt into
the buckles of other seats.
NEVER unfasten the seat belt
while driving. This may cause
loss of vehicle control result-
ing in an accident.
Make sure there is nothing in
the buckle interfering with the
seat belt latch mechanism.
This may prevent the seat belt
from fastening securely.

2-28
Safety system of your vehicle
Height adjustment
You can adjust the height of the
shoulder belt anchor to one of the
four different positions for maximum
comfort and safety.
The shoulder portion should be
adjusted so it lies across your chest
and midway over your shoulder near-
est the door, not over your neck.To adjust the height of the seat belt
anchor, lower or raise the height
adjuster into an appropriate position.
To raise the height adjuster, pull it up
(1). To lower it, push it down (3) while
pressing the height adjuster button (2).
Release the button to lock the anchor
into position. Try sliding the height
adjuster to make sure that it has
locked into position.
Rear Seat Belt – Passenger's 3-
point system with convertible
locking retractor
This type of seat belt combines the
features of both an emergency locking
retractor seat belt and an automatic
locking retractor seat belt. Convertible
retractor type seat belts are installed in
the rear seat positions to help accom-
modate the installation of child
restraint systems. Although a convert-
ible retractor is also installed in the
front passenger seat position, NEVER
place any infant/child restraint system
in the front seat of the vehicle.
Position one arm under the
shoulder belt and the other over
the belt, as shown in the illus-
tration.
Always position the shoulder
belt anchor into the locked
position at the appropriate
height.
Never position the shoulder
belt across your neck or face.
OTL035026
■Front seat